DOLE Kalinga conducts profiling of child laborers

Tabuk City, Kalinga – The Department of Labor and Employment continues the profiling of child laborers in the province to understand the situation of children participating in the labor market and find means for proper intervention, says Senior Labor Employment Officer Emmanuel Barcellano.

In an interview, Barcellano said that this activity is part of the 2022 target to eliminate child labor in the country. The profiling, he added, will determine those who are involved in child labor so effective intervention and assistance can be provided.

“I-determine tayo iti cause iti engagement da iti child labor so that makita mi met ken ma-assess iti proper wennu appropriate nga intervention a maited kanyada,” he said.

Barcellano said that after the profiling, the identified child laborers shall be referred to agencies which have the best match services.

“[We] refer them kasi haan mi met maited amin iti assistance, so definitely we need all the help a kailangan from the local and national agencies and even the non-government organizations who are willing to help met lang,” he said.

What is child labor?

Barcellano said that there is a thin line between a child labor and a working child. However, there are factors that separate them.

He explained that there are only two controlling points and these are the questions on whether the child is performing an activity whose nature is hazardous to his or her total well-being – physical, social, psychological, mental, and others and whether it disrupts his or her right to education. If yes, then definitely, it is a child labor.

Working children, on the other hand, are those who are just simply assisting their parents.

“Mapmapan nga agpaysu idiay farm but not necessarily nga isuna iti apan agraep … ta baka mabalin a mapan na lang gayam ibal-balunan dagiay parents na, iyaw-awat nu adda kailangan da idiay taltalon,” he said.

Meanwhile, the senior labor employment officer said that before profilers conduct the profiling, they first seek the consent of the parents and that they have to explain their findings to the parents.

Child labor in Kalinga in 2019

In a data profiled from July – December 10, 2019, there were 558 child laborers the DOLE profiled, wherein 6 years old was the youngest and was engaged in farming.

Of this 558, 178 in Tabuk City; 130 in Pinukpuk; 80 in Lubuagan; 70 in Rizal; 42 in Tinglayan; 34 in Balbalan; 16 in Tanudan; and 8 in Pasil.

Barcellano said that the main reason behind child labor is poverty, “awan met sabali a reason da nu haan a poverty.”

One of the disadvantages of this is that the children, instead of going to school, will go and work to the farm or in a construction in order to help their parents provide their daily food.

“Tapnu adda laeng iti kanen da, tapnu lang maitawid da every day. Imbis a mapan da agiskwela, mapan da na lang agtrabaho,” he said.

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